Congress, Opposition stall Parliament over Telangana

Their political divisions notwithstanding, some ruling Congress MPs Thursday joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Telangana Rashtriya Samithi (TRS) members to disrupt parliament demanding a separate Telangana to be carved out of Andhra Pradesh.

The joint protests on the contentious issue forced repeated disruptions of the New Delhi. Speaker Meira Kumar adjourned the house till 2 pm, the third adjournment after the members met at 11 am.

As soon as the house began its proceedings, TRS members K. Chandrashekar Rao and M. Vijayashanti walked towards the speaker’s podium shouting slogans seeking Telangana state. They were soon supported by BJP members.

Congress members from Telangana region also rose from their seats to protest in the aisle and shouted slogans.

MPs from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) countered the pro-Telangana protests by flashing placards for a “United Andhra Pradesh”.

Seemingly angry with TDP’s placards, one Congress member rushed towards the TDP group, snatched the placard and rejoined his slogan shouting colleagues.

Meira Kumar pleaded with them to let the house proceed, but the MPs did not relent. The house was adjourned till 2 pm.

Earlier, the Lok Sabha was adjourned twice during the question hour over the same issue.

The Rajya Sabha was also adjourned twice during question hour after uproar by opposition members over Telangana.

When MPs in the upper house met, BJP members were on their feet demanding a statement from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Chairman Hamid Ansari asked members to raise the issue during zero hour but they did not relent and instead walked towards his podium.

He repeatedly urged the protesting members to return to their seats. They did not, and he adjourned the house for 15 minutes.

Noisy scenes returned when the house met again. Ansari suspended question hour and adjourned the house till noon.